Haida Gwaii resort offers world-class fishing adventure travel, Club

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Haida Gwaii resort offers world-class fishing adventure

We all know fishing stories; they’re the ones that got away, leaving us a genre with the largest net of proverbs, puns and dad-jokes known to mankind.

But as I travel to the West Coast Fishing Club’s “50-Mile Gourmet Feast and Fishing Experience” in the remote islands off the coast of B.C. known as Haida Gwaii, I pay attention to their lessons. After all, fishing lore exists for a reason; it has endured centuries of wisdom, stemming from the DNA of filthy fingernails, made-from-scratch recipes and hindsight’s best sob story. So just for the halibut, I’ll tell you mine.

The West Coast Fishing Club in Haida Gwaii provides global sojourners the most exclusive opportunity to escape into primordial nature with highly skilled fishermen. Guests experience world-class fishing among the most abundant runs of salmon on the West Coast, including access to the best boats and gear. Staying at one of the four luxury WCFC resort properties seals the deal with gourmet “50-Mile food” prepared by lauded resident chef Ryan Stone, who also just served as Team Canada’s 2011 Bocuse d’Or representative in Lyon, France.

The WCFC hosts several culinary weekends where guests fish-and-mingle with top gourmet chefs, dine together and then retire into total lodge luxury of majestic cedar beams and Haida artwork, crackling fireplaces, a wagging dog’s tail, and many a tall tale told over “scotch on the rocks.”

The renowned chefs alongside Stone on my luxury culinary adventure were Myke Shaw of the Vancouver Aquarium and Andrea Carlson of Bishop’s Restaurant, who sourced and utilized the rich, unique diversity of produce and natural resources available to them on Haida Gwaii, coupled with the pioneering ethos of the West Coast Fishing Club; a leader of salmon habitat enhancement projects which serve the local ecosystem and community.

Besides the actual fishing, my favourite moment was starting my day with a Mimosa and fresh-caught salmon Eggs Benedict enjoyed on the misty deck of the lodge, as a deer peeked its head over the deck at me to say good morning. [The eggs came straight from the WCFC chickens that are provided with feed and fertilizer including ground kelp and starfish from the beach out front.]

The local abundance was a playground of exploration for the chefs, too, and in the evening they showed their magnificent finds of the day; a handful bouquet of rare and wild blue chanterelle forest mushrooms, or tiny white “beach strawberries.” Enjoying them in a gourmet meal was the most rewarding part for us.

Noteworthy is the exclusive upcoming David Hawskworth And Friends Culinary Adventure, the perfect Father’s Day gift for the man who’s done it all and has it all. A nicely timed occasion, with the recent successful opening of his namesake restaurant in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia.

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There were a few legs to my trip up to The West Coast Fishing Club (not to mention the sea legs I’d soon need.) I checked-in at Pacific Coastal Airlines, where staff had me instantly revved-up for my fishing trip, handing me my WCFC hat and water bottle, along with my fishing licence and salmon logbook.After a two-hour misty-mountain-hop over to Haida Gwaii, we arrived at what must be the most silent tarmac on the planet, Masset .

It is too early the next morning to declare the time. I am both waking up and walking down to the large docks as fishermen prepare our boats. The smell of cedar steeps through me, down to masses of barnacles clinging to the slippery aged wood under my feet. Eagles are above my head circling figure eights. I pay them my respect. Geared up, into the boat, and awestruck that I’m heading out with a skilled fishing guide into the thick morning fog of this ancient landscape, I have no idea what fishing I’m in for but from all the stories I’ve heard, there is a jumping thrill in my heart. There is no horizon to place my eyes on yet but sunlight fights through, slowly turning whispers and legends into sepia-filtered outlines of forest and water. We are gorillas in the midst of the first terrain, the primeval account of our existence, the temple without walls, the sea. Haida Gwaii.

The boat engine turns off and we wait, quietly being pulled along by the tides in the most remote area of Pacific Ocean I’ve ever seen. Fighting my nausea, I pay attention to the surroundings, as the guide points to a faint horizon and says, “Yup, that’s Alaska.”

Water lapping along the hull, the clouds above us are thunder-grey and the ocean darker. A humpback whale slides herself into our sight, about seven feet [2.13 metres] alongside the boat and everyone becomes electric. Then she’s gone. More waiting. My fears begin to swirl [or is that my protein shake?] and my brain starts in. Do I want to know fishing for real? What if it doesn’t love me back? Are there plenty of other fish in the sea? Or just one for me that I will either catch or lose forever? Will I not be strong enough? What if l am the only one who doesn’t get one?

“There! The line is going off!” Our guide yells, “You got one, you got one! Alexandra get over there and get ’er done!”

My boat-mates go bonkers, screaming with their gestures as I go for my fish. I grab the rod and just hold it; I’m simply trying to just hold it. I try to reel, but nope, I am not pulling that rod, the rod is pulling me! I am a tin can tied to the back of a monster truck. Adrenalin is pounding but I wait with total focus and sharpened senses. Quicker than the flicker of an eagle’s eye, a silver streak flashes out of the black water and disappears again. I was briefly face-to-face with my fish. He has shown himself. I have no idea where this is going.

“Whoa-whoa ... okay Alexandra, you gotta listen to me now. You are dealing with a BIG salmon here. Hold on real tight but let the line go. Just allow him to swim away.” Another silver slash through the water and Guide begins to laugh, “Ha-ha OK now Alexandra, looks like this guy is a really big Chinook and he’s coming to play. You gotta outsmart him. So you gotta let him go for a while and then he’ll get tired of running. And then you get him.”

I get it. Let’s do this! The fish leaps like a geyser out of the water and everyone gasps and I get pulled. I wrap my arm around that rod and I pull it back, right into my belly. [The advice to do sit-ups for this moment seems to be paying off.]

“Ali, this is a massive fish! I mean, you’ve got a frikkin’ hog on the end of your line! Alexandra, I’m serious. Listen to me. Do not give up. Do not surrender.

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People have been coming all week from all over the world to catch what you have on your line. And you’re gonna bring him in. But do not watch your fish or it will ruin you. Don’t look at him! Watch the end of your pole. If you watch the fish, he’s gone!

I honestly can’t remember much of the rest except for a feeling through my body of the most adrenalin-rushed intensity of my life. (And suppressing vomit while apparently giving birth to this fish.) Here is the less than eloquent email my family received from me that night:

“ ... I vomited several times off the side of the boat and they wanted to take me in. I refused. They said I was being awfully quiet and very sick. But I told them I came to fish!

When it started, I cannot describe the blood sweat and tears. My body was shaking. I was holding in my sickness. I was screaming vile sentences at the top of my lungs that can’t be repeated, and then I apparently started shouting Namaste and went into yoga poses and was holding the rod like a Yoga pose. I would let him out ... Then pull him in. Screaming Ganesh, Ganesh, Ganesh! We wrestled for eternity, (at least 15 minutes) Guide says: “This guy is not gonna surrender. You have to keep him fighting Alexandra ... I was crying ... The team was cheering ... I reeled him in guys!!! I reeled in a 28-lb. [12.5 kg] Chinook!!! It was the biggest catch of the day!

When I got him in the net and into the boat, I flung myself over the side and barfed some more! Will send photo later ... Now hot tub!”...

My toes wiggle in my wool socks under the candlelit dining room table being prepared with food and wine pairings by Chef Stone. I rejoice in the freedom of being in a luxury lodge and at the same time, after a day like today, being able to be as fashionably rustic as I choose. My new idea of “social grace” is sitting down at the table with a bunch of wonderful people after a day of wonderful fishing and giving thanks for what’s in front of me, behind me, and still to come.

If you go

The day-trips to ancient Haida villages as led by Haida Coastal “Watchmen” are experiences of such a sacred page that my words do not serve the story. The most accurately-hallowed description from a non-Native outsider point-of-view, would be the ethereal quality presented in Emily Carr’s paintings. I won’t go further than to say that my visit to those forests and moss-blanketed Totem Poles fulfilled every childhood longing to know them, and my Haida Watchmen Guide, Owen, must have known this too, as when my eyes welled with tears he presented me an eagle feather from his walking stick and smiled.

For WCFC info and more on Haida Gwaii visit WestCoastFishingClub.com HelloBC.com and OceanWiseCanada.org.

Hit The Road, and Hit The Rod, My Top 10 Songs to Go Fishing To

Now that summer's here (knock on wood), there's no better place on earth to be geared up for fishing than British Columbia, I've compiled a playlist of 10 great fishing songs. The ranking may be up to debate, but consider it a nudge to get your playlist skills out, hit the road, and hit the rods.

(*For extra good times, be sure to whistle the theme song to The Andy Griffith Show while

walking down that path to the water!)

10. Summertime - by The Zombies

9. You Were Always On My Mind- by Willie Nelson

8. Night Moves- by Bob Seger

7. Suzanne- by Leonard Cohen

6. Fly Like An Eagle- by The Steve Miller Band

5. Ahead By A Century- by The Tragically Hip

4. I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishing Song) - by Brad Paisley

3. Black Water- by The Doobie Brothers

2. Fishin' In The Dark- by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

1. (Tie for first) Fishin' Blues- by Taj Mahal / Lazy Bones -By Leon Redbone

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The West Coast Fishing Club in Haida Gwaii provides global sojourners the most exclusive opportunity to escape into primordial nature with highly skilled fishermen

Alexandra Staseson now has a fishing story of her own. She wrestled with this 12.5-kilogram chinook and finally pulled it on board during a fishing trip in the remote islands off the coast of B.C.


A handful of rare wild blue chanterelle forest mushrooms


the  Clubhouse Parry Pass dining room offers a view and delicious food.

The chef prepares food that makes the most of local ingredients

The biggest catch of the day is a 28-lb. (12.5 kg) chinook.